Hagia Sophia Abstractions

A temporary exhibit in the Orientation Gallery will soon display five pastels by former employee (1963–1993) and artist, Alex De Boeck. De Boeck became intrigued by a black-and-white photograph of a roof section of Hagia Sophia taken by his colleague Robert Van Nice. In 1990, De Boeck transformed the image into abstract compositions of lines, shapes, and colors. Accompanying the pastels is a slide show of images from Study of Light in Hagia Sophia taken in the 1930s by the Byzantine Institute of America and now in the ICFA Photograph Collection.